The Wild Huntress
by AevumAce
Summary: Akko Kagari lives with her poor widow mother in a cottage with their goats. Growing up, she has heard of stories about ruthless and mischievous faeries and wished to experience it herself while evading the costs and consequences that come. One day while foraging in the forest, she is approached by a beautiful huntress and invites her to dance. Fair Folk AU Dianakko Week Day 6
1. Chapter 1

Day 6: Crossover/AU

Akko's mother would tell her stories upon bedtime about the fair folk that lived in the woods. Stories about brownies who help with the chores overnight in exchange for a bowl of cream. There were pixies who make various pranks on humans ranging from harmless to harmful.

There were boggarts, mischievous creatures who slammed doors, shatter pottery and pawed through a household's winter stores in search of sweets. There were goblins, ugly creatures who kidnaps naughty children and eat them.

Numerous tales about faerie rings and faerie revels that would tempt lost travelers into music and dancing, and that the people who joined them lost all of their humanity Children were warned to stay away from strange flickering lights at midnight, for if a person once set foot inside a fairy ring, they would never be able to leave.

There were also handsome love-talkers, who seduced girls with their charm and wit and then left them to pine away for a love that could never be.

"So my dear little Akko," her mother gave her a kiss on the forehead, tucking her in bed. "When a mysterious handsome boy offers you to dance, do not let him touch you for you will be trapped and can never get home again."

"Are all fairies bad?" she asked, her eyes reflected the light from the candle flame.

"Faeries have the beauty of angels and the viciousness of demons." Her mother said. "All of them are mischievous creatures. Some have a well-intent heart, some had a corrupted one."

"Do you think we'll see any real fairies?" Akko asked excitedly.

"Perhaps," her mother answered. "And hopefully you will remember all of my warnings about them so you can live and tell the tale to your future children.

"How will I recognize them?"

"Sometimes they dress as ordinary humans," her mother replied.

"But how will I know if I see a fairy?" Akko asked again. "If they look like ordinary people, I won't be able to tell."

"You'll be able to tell because wherever they touch, they'll leave a bit of golden or silver dust behind."

"It is like magic," Akko whispered.

Her mother smiled at her, her hand touching her hair. "Yes, my love, it is."

* * *

 _ **Akko took**_ her mother's bedtime stories to the heart for all of her 16 years.

One day, when the grass in their fields became scarce, Akko's mother instructed her to bring their goats to the forest and at the same time giving her a list of things to forage while the goats feed.

"Be safe now, my child." Her mother said, retrieving something from her pocket and handed it over to her daughter. "Here's for extra protection and please heed my warnings."

Akko held the knife in her hand, feeling the weight of it. She unsheathed the blade to inspect it closely, it was made of iron—the Fair Folk's weakness. "Have a safe trip too, mother."

Her mother gave her child another kiss on the forehead and traveled down the road. She still had duties to attend to at the nearby village. Ever since Akko's father died by overworking, her mother took the role of both parents.

Wandering through the woods with a basket strapped to her shoulders, Akko held the reins of their two goats. With deft fingers, she tethered the goats to the nearby tree while foraging the area of possible edible fruits, nuts, and herbs.

Akko was careful to know which direction she'd go, leaving tracks behind so she'd know where to return in case she gets lost. She then brought the goats to a nearby stream so they would be refreshed on the rest of the journey.

She had been doing it for hours and when her stomach grumbled, she took out her prepared lunch: a bowl of cold stew and a small loaf of bread. Akko saw a massive, low-hanging birch limb and decided to take a break there. She settled down on the mossy surface, resting.

After a full stomach, Akko shifted on the branch, feeling the tree move beneath her. Looking downward, she saw a woman mounting her white noble steed with golden eyes. A thrill of shock coursed through Akko's body. First of all, she had never heard the drumbeat of horses' hooves, and second, the woman looked strange.

The girl had platinum colored hair with greenish highlights. She wore brown breeches, black boots and a long-sleeved silver tunic over her green chemise. She had a long silver bow strapped on her shoulder with a quiver full of arrows. The fabric of her clothes and as well as her weapon gleamed as if there were light trapped within.

On first glance, the girl's face was just ordinary, except that her skin was as white as goat's milk. She looked young but those eyes bear wisdom that only the old possesses. One eye glowed unnaturally blue and the other was unnaturally silver like the moon. They were cool, measuring and iridescent and twinkling like stars. Akko lost her mind in those mesmerizing pools.

"What are you seeking?" she said, her lilting voice was silky yet cold.

Akko and the Huntress were separated by several feet, but Akko was disconcerted by the intensity of her gaze; she felt as if the woman could pull her open from afar.

The Huntress' two colored eyes moved to the goats and then back to her face. An expression of some sort passed over her features, but Akko did not recognize it. "Come closer."

Akko was compelled to get up. Even her own muscles would not obey her own commands. When she stood before the Huntress, she trembled from fear, suddenly becoming aware of the knife that she placed on her thigh holster.

The huntress got off her horse to be on eye level with her. She reached out to stroke Akko's brown hair and immediately, Akko retrieved the knife hidden underneath her skirt. She pointed the iron blade on the stranger' face, though the Huntress stood there, unwavering.

"You have such a small weapon." The Huntress said, raising her hands in surrender. "Your fingers are shaking and your posture and stance seem lacking. You could easily be defeated."

Akko managed to ask, her heart thudding in her chest. "Who are you?"

"You know who I am."

Judging by her appearance and the lack of nose philtrum in between the girl's nose and upper lips confirmed she was not among the human race; however, something unthinkable happened. The huntress held Akko's hand and disarmed her. Akko fell to the ground, she stared upwards at the huntress who held the hilt of her knife and as well as the blade. She was completely fine with it.

"Here is one of my hunting knife, and look at the difference between them." The huntress unsheathed hers from her waist. It was also made of cold iron and was as long as half an arm.

Akko's face reddened. She has terribly mistaken the girl as a faerie. The girl must be among the foreign settlers or ones that lived across the borders which explain the girl's uncanny beauty. She lifted herself from the ground and this time let the huntress brush some dirt off her face.

Akko could feel an icy chill emanating from the Huntress' hand, but she could not control the warmth spreading across her cheeks. "What shall I call you then?" she asked.

"Diana," she whispered, returning her hunting knife back on its sheath. "Though I am in no position to ridicule you of your weapon choice, clearly your knife is for stealth and throws." She returned the small knife to Akko's hand and then slowly bowed.

"I am still in the process of learning how to defend myself," Akko admitted.

"Is that so? Would you want me to help you train? Or rather," Diana curtsied. "Shall I have this dance, pretty girl?"

Akko gasped. "I-I do not know how to dance."

Diana's lips curved upward. "Come, the steps are simple. Let me show you how," she said, extending her hand.

Akko's breath hitched. She could not refuse such an attractive woman. Placing the knife back to its sheath underneath her skirt, she offered her hand.

Diana's hand was strong and supple. Somehow she managed to copy Diana's steps just easily for it seemed as if her shoes were leading her along, telling her feet and legs where to move. As they whirled around, Akko swore she caught a sight of musicians with their flutes, harps, pipes, and drums beside them, making sweet music for them to move in rhythm.

Akko was confused, lightheaded; it was as if a cloak of glamour clung to her, making her intoxicated with dancing with the beautiful woman.

When the pounding of the drums and the harmonious rhythm died down, they stopped dancing. Akko looked around desperately, trying to find any trace of the intoxication left. A silence grew between them. Akko looked down at the ground, studying the brown pattern of veins in the fallen leaves.

Eventually, the huntress said, "Never in all of my life had I had the most utmost fun with a mere girl." She curtsied and turned to go back to mount her steed. "Forgive me dear lady; it may have seemed that I took much of your time. Have a good walk back home."

Fearing the loss of her sight, Akko reached out and grabbed her arm and asked. "Please, will you show me the way back to the path? I think I'm lost."

The huntress nodded with a smile. Diana got down from her steed and placed her lithe arms around Akko's waist and lifted her up to sit on the horse's saddle. She then proceeded to grab Akko's basket and handed it to her. She also untied the knots from the goats' reins and grabbed her steed's reins as well.

She shepherded the way through the woods without speaking, but their steps seemed as loud as an advancing army. Sitting on top of the horse, Akko watched the huntress. Her eyes raking on the rise and fall of Diana's shoulders as she moved, her silver woolen cloak flapping behind her with each step. When they reached the trail, the huntress paused and said. "I trust you can find your way home."

Akko nodded. The huntress then carried her with such graceful strength from the white steed and onto the ground. With her basket strapped on her shoulders once more, she took the reins of her goats.

The huntress bowed once more. "Then I'll bid you good evening. I must go."

"Good evening," Akko replied and went on her way back home because it did not seem polite to watch the huntress leave. A little guilt buried in her heart because she had lied to the Huntress, and she wondered if the huntress had known that she had not been lost that day.

* * *

 _ **When she was**_ inside her room, Akko unbuttoned her dress and pulled it over her head, folding it carefully at the foot of the bed. She pulled off her petticoat and her shoes, and stood for a moment in the room in her camisole, her arms crossed over her chest until she realized that the night's air was too chilly to be standing around undressed.

That was when she found that her clothes had silver dust sprinkled all over. She paid it no mind, figuring that the Huntress came from a rich country and those were merely expensive glitters that flew to her clothing while they danced.

She wanted to tell her mother her adventure, but she thought to herself that she ought to finish her tomorrow's chores before telling her mother in the evening.

When tomorrow came, her plans were similar to the one yesterday, but this time she also had to spin some flax so her mother could sell it to the nearby village. So Akko started spinning; however, there was something unsettling inside her. It was as if the woods were calling her and her feet ache to whirl around.

Akko finally stood and stopped spinning her flax for the distracted thoughts inside her mind could not even give her a productive hour. She drove the goats as usual to the woods.

It had been noon when she crossed paths with the huntress once more. Akko gawked at Diana. She looked more beautiful than she was yesterday. When the huntress asked her to dance with her, Akko could not stop the beating of her heart and stop it from leaving her chest. Without any reluctance, together, they danced until dusk.

She forgot to do her chores for the rest of the day.

The next day, she promised herself not to dance despite how flattered and tempted she would be, but the Huntress came by her home at noon and distracted her from spinning yarn and cleaning her house altogether. Her chore began piling up but at least the goats were properly fed and the female was milked. All Akko wanted to do was to dance on forever with the Huntress.

On the third morning, the same thing happened. They truly danced to their hearts' content. At sundown, Akko burst into tears for she forgot to spin her flax, becoming conscious of all of her undone chores and feared what her mother would say.

The beautiful huntress then helped spin all the flax Akko forgot to, while Akko did the other chores. When Akko finished cleaning the house and milking the goat, she looked for Diana who then disappeared when her task was done.

Akko wondered how the huntress could have spun three days worth of spinning in just one day, but perhaps Diana grew up in a country where they had an advance spinning technique. Akko gaped at the finished product. All the spun flax was neatly stacked and shone gold and silver.

On the fourth day, it has not been noon when she heard beautiful music coming from a close distance. This one was a tune she has not heard of before. She placed the basket on the ground near the tree and went towards the music curiously.

Leaving the path, she picked her way across fallen branches, and soon she saw flickering lights like fireflies in midsummer. She came across a scene so beautiful it made her heartache. There were sparkling lanterns hanging from the branches, illuminating the clearing where dozens of finely dressed men and women were dancing, their bodies as graceful as blossoms bending in a spring breeze. In the center of the clearing was a meadow.

Akko saw a circle of girls dancing round and round, they looked deliriously mad from the ecstasy of the joyful movement. All around the dancing circle were full of the old and the young, men and women, and those who are not sure and those who are in between. Most of them were faeries in their unearthly splendor. She watched them as they chatter, sing, and dance, to their heart's content, and lay on cushioned seats with crystal goblets in hand.

Akko remembered her mother's stories about faerie rings and faerie revels. She could be trapped here forever if she succumbed to temptation but she could easily evade them. She knew all the warnings and she has an iron knife with her. So she stepped past the exotic mushrooms and flowers that decorated the sidelines and entered the clearing.

One of the faerie women came toward her, her skin was nearly a deadly shade of translucent, with puce hair, and her only visible eye was hard like ruby, and her teeth sharp like knives, but the smile on her face was entrancing. She wore only a thin dress made of what looked like gossamer threads. "You seem lost, little girl? Come, dance with us. Eat some of our sweet treats and drink some of our sweet wine."

Akko couldn't answer. She forgot all about her mother's warnings in an instant. If a person danced with faeries they will be enchanted to a delusion of happiness. If a person consumed food of the faeries, they will be trapped forever in faerie for no humans are allowed to taste their delicacies. The faerie woman seized the advantage of a stunned mortal and took her hand to lead her into the dancing circle.

Then someone took Akko's other hand and pulled her back away from the dancing girls, and the faerie woman turned to look at who had restrained her and let go, her eyes widening in sudden fright.

" _I had claimed her as my own."_ Akko heard a familiar voice say but the language was unknown to her.

" _Oh, forgive me Lady Diana of the Wild Hunt."_ The faerie grinned but the sharp anger in the woman's eyes startled her; it was as if a beautiful mask had slid off to reveal the hungry beast within.

The Huntress was furious. Akko could see the muscles of Diana's face taut beneath her white skin and spoke to the faerie woman. The whispering began to separate out into sentences spoken in a language Akko did not understand.

" _Sucy of the Unseelie lands,"_ she snarled _. "Pray tell why do the Unseelie and the Seelie Court seem to be celebrating when the Seelie Queen and the Unseelie King forbid all contact with each other?"_

Sucy chuckled. _"Classic ignorance among you Wild Huntresses, the law is applicable back on Faerie Land but here on The Clearing, the law is bendable!"_

Akko recoiled from both of them but Diana kept her locked in her grip.

" _I see,"_ she excused herself and dragged Akko out of the circle, her fingers nearly crushing Akko's arm.

"You're hurting me," she gasped, but the huntress would not stop moving until they were away from that place and she could no longer hear the intoxicating music.

"What were you doing?" Diana demanded, at last, letting go of her.

"I followed the music, I thought it was you." she said.

"You walked deeper to the enchanted path. You must never explore much to get to The Clearing, and you cannot remain here."

"Go back?" she repeated, and she was flooded with disappointment. "I came all this way to get to you. I missed you. Don't make me go back." She pleaded.

"You have no choice in the matter," Diana said curtly. She turned, lifting her head as if she was listening for something Akko could not hear. "I will take you back to your home."

And then the Huntress' noble steed came out of the woods toward them. In one smooth motion, the Huntress picked her up and lifted her onto the saddle, and then Diana mounted behind her.

Akko sat stiffly, afraid to lean back against Diana's soft breasts, "B-but my goats and baskets!"

"They are already waiting for you." The Huntress said.

The horse beneath Akko felt powerful and wild than it was before, but the steed moved so smoothly that Akko found herself relaxing against her will. As they glided through the dark trees, the texture of the air seemed to change as if the woods were being compressed on their journey, and when she inhaled, it was like a gust of wind thrust down her throat.

When the horse slowed down she blinked her eyes open. They were already outside her little cottage with the goats and basket full of herbs and woods.

"I apologize," Akko said as soon as Diana dismounted her steed to carry the shorter girl back to the ground. "I just realized that I was in deep trouble back there."

"Do not be," Diana said, looking sideways from guilt. "I must admit I was a bit too harsh."

"You care for me, Diana," Akko said, her cheeks blushing. "That is what my mother also does—tough love."

Diana gazed back into her eyes. Akko could see the tears dampen her thick black lashes. She and the Huntress were just a kiss away and Akko really wanted to crash her lips onto hers.

"Shall I still see you tomorrow?" Akko asked instead, her voice, strained and edgy.

"As you wish, dear heart of mine," Diana said. Then as if she were in a trance, she leaned in suddenly towards the shorter girl's face, capturing Akko's waiting lips.

Diana's moistened lips moved over her own, tender at first then with increasing pressure and ardor. Slowly, Akko gave into their passionate kiss. She slipped out a soft moan in her throat, and her hands absentmindedly ran through the huntress' long blonde locks. Akko threw an arm around Diana's neck; she tried to draw her closer still, needing to feel the huntress against her. Diana's nails were digging into her hips as they kissed in a ravenous frenzy.

"Atsuko," she breathed heavily. "You have the prettiest mouth, so pink and delicate. I can barely contain myself."

With that Diana kissed her again and Akko was lost in the sensation. Akko's eyes were closed but she felt Diana smile against her mouth. All of her blood sang and thrummed with each beat of her heart.

Suddenly their kiss ended and the huntress reached for Akko's hand and brought it to her lips, and kissed her knuckles. Akko felt lightheaded as if she had drunk a great deal of wine.

"See you tomorrow," Diana whispered.

* * *

 _ **This went on**_ and on for days. Until Akko's mother would return home and find her daughter in an ecstatic trance. Her daughter would often sigh and look far into the distance outside the window and she would often hum a tune of the music she had not heard of.

Her mother noticed all the little signs, her daughter's clothes would be filled with silver dust; the spun flax would radiate golden sunlight, her daughter would often muse about how beautiful simple things were but found no physical side effects that could mean she was being entranced by a faerie.

Akko's mother quickly inspected the iron knife she gave her. It was neither destroyed nor altered in any sort of way. It was still cold iron—lethal to faeries. Hurled with worry, this time, she decided to give her daughter extra protection. It was an old iron amulet that was forged by their ancestors. Locked inside were more faerie weaknesses such as salt and a powder of grave dirt. Sometimes dousing her daughter with holy water she bought from the church and feeding her daughter with potions that the local witches recommended.

She did all the procedures she could think of and yet Akko still comes home in such a state even if the anti-faerie objects clung to her young girl.

"Akko," her mother came to her one day. Figuring that perhaps her daughter fell prey to romantic love. "Had you met any boys around the area?"

"I have met no boys," Akko replied, her eyes in a daze and her cheeks pink. "For no boy or man would ever charm me."

"Oh," her mother said. "Who had you been thinking about?"

"You might as well be put in a mystery quite longer, mother." Akko giggled, "For I am not telling you yet."

* * *

 _ **Akko dreamily**_ longed for the coming of noon meetings with the Huntress. So every day, she brought her goats and basket, along with the amulet that hung on her throat. At noon, Diana still came.

"Beautiful amulet," Diana noticed the new ornament that graced Akko's neck perfectly.

"My mother worries too much." Akko held onto it. "I would trade my lifetime sweets to show her that I'm not glamoured by some faerie."

A flicker of hurt crossed Diana's features. "Why would she say that?"

"She claims the most dreaded things that I am being succumbed to an evil faerie's spell."

"Perhaps you are, Atsuko," Diana said. "A human masked with glamour had no recollection of anything in their old human life. All they would think of is the music and the false dreams woven by their captors."

Akko stared at Diana with a pout, slightly angered at the thought. "You were supposed to take my side."

"Oh, forgive me. Let us not destroy the mood for our romantic joyful dancing." She offered her hand.

"Also," she held Diana's palm. "How many times have I told you to call me Akko instead?"

Diana's lips were careful not to curve. "We do not believe in shortened names."

Once she and Diana started to move, their sole purpose is to dance and they become the link between faerie tale and reality as if their whole bodies were possessed by magic spirits. Diana was graceful, stunning and charming at the same time, and the way her body moved to the heavenly music made Akko fall for this lovely huntress even more.

Akko, as ecstatic as ever, forgot everything and they danced till sundown.

Hoping that Diana would help her again, the Huntress took Akko's empty basket, filled it with something. "I am afraid that I could not bring you back to your home this time." Her face contorted into despair. "The hunt calls me, Atsuko. I had been gone from my duties long enough. My huntresses are restless for a glorious hunt. I had no heart to tell you that today is the last day we could dance like this."

Akko's jaw dropped, her eyes widening. "What?"

"By midnight, the hunt and I are leaving. We are never to return back."

"You are leaving me?" Deep from the pit of her stomach, her joyous momentum disappeared, replaced when she fell into such a sudden distress.

When Akko looked up and met Diana's unnatural two colored eyes—one blue and the other silver, she could not stop herself from shaking until her eyes wept. And then the huntress touched Akko's cheek.

Akko grabbed Diana by her shoulders and looked at her with furious and pleading eyes, "Diana no! Please!"

"It is for the best, Atsuko. The love between a human and a faerie had no good endings. There are always costs and consequences."

Akko made a sharp inhale, "Faerie? Do not jest with me, Diana! You are unaffected by the cold iron and amulet!"

Diana sighed. "Faeries cannot lie. I have not tricked you into thinking I am human. It is merely your lack of knowledge about the World of the Fae. The reason why your iron and amulet does not affect me for I am among the Wild Hunt. The Wild Hunt is composed of faeries and souls of lost humans. Wild Hunt faeries are not ordinary faeries. We are immune to typical faerie weaknesses. We are neither dead nor alive and we belong in neither Seelie nor Unseelie Courts."

Wondering, Akko took Diana's hands in hers, and they were as cold as death. Akko's eyes glistened from the tears threatening to escape. "What was it then? Why did you approach me that day?"

"I was on a mission to take a lost mortal and offer her a goblet of my blood disguised as wine."

"You were supposed to enslave me?" Akko's voice quivered, sounding thick with tears.

"You took an enchanted path and stepped into faerie land, and you were the most beautiful among lost humans that day." She answered.

The resolution startled Akko for it came like a slap on her face. She felt her heartache.

"No one has ever encountered the Wild Hunt; no one has been offered to take a ride on our horses without serving us for eternity. You are the first ever, Atsuko. There is an unknown force within me that stopped my carnal desire of possessing you."

Akko's tears flowed uncontrollably from her eyes. Sure she wished she would be able to witness faeries, leave their evil clutches, and live to tell the tale; but this was not what she had in mind. She did not wish to part from the girl she loved.

"I will join you," Akko said, throwing herself to Diana, nuzzling on Huntress' neck. "For I love you and would be with you for eternity."

Diana shook her head; she grabbed Akko's arms and untangled it from her neck. She made Akko look at her for even her blue and silver eyes were dark with pain. "I am but a shadow of a human soul and can never love you as a human could."

Akko could see that she told the truth, for no blood warmed her skin, and there was no pulse beating in her throat. When they first kissed, Akko's rational thoughts disappeared, fooling her into thinking that the huntress was warm and had a beating heart. But if it was so, Akko could accept Diana with all her flaws. A part of Akko still wished to be with Diana regardless of what form she had taken.

When Diana had seen Akko's wish in her heart, she handed her the basket and covered it with her own handkerchief. "I shall give you my parting gift, Atsuko. Treasure our memories together for I will treasure our shared dances together. Look not inside the basket until you are home."

Akko hesitated to receive it because it meant she will never see her beloved huntress ever again.

"You must go back, Atsuko. I am lost to you forever, but you can still leave. You must forget about your feelings for me from now on, and if you see the Wild Hunt riding, never approach us." Then she quickly mounted her steed.

Her golden-eyed horse gave a loud neigh and rode through the wind swiftly, leaving Akko on her own to go home.

With a lungful of air, Akko collapsed to the ground, curling herself into a ball and cried for her lost love.

Akko waited for her composure to return. When it did, she grabbed the reins of her goats and she strapped the basket behind her. With a broken heart, she ambled to the pathway home before it got too dark. Despite the advice the huntress gave her, she wanted to look inside because the basket was so light that she wondered whether there was anything in it.

Halfway, her curiosity turned full peak so she peeped in to see that the basket was full of birch leaves. Akko burst into more tears. Diana surely was a cold-blooded faerie who relished at hurting humans. In anger, she threw out a handful of unnecessary leaves and was going to empty the basket when she decided to keep what's left as litter for the goats.

Arriving home, Akko gasped when her mother ran towards her, claiming that the leftover flax that has not been sold yet vanished. So Akko confessed and told her mother all she knew about the beautiful huntress.

"Oh," her mother cried. "She is Lady Diana, the leader of the Wild Huntresses! She goes by many names and is among the oldest of faeries. Many refer to her as a goddess for she is neither alive nor dead but truly divine. At noon she would roam the woods looking for lost humans, offering them to dance with her and present them with blood wine once the victim is exhausted. As leader of the Wild Hunt, new potential recruits are forced to drink her blood as part of their initiation. It is well you are not a boy or she might have danced you to death! Only females can join the wild hunt, but I do not understand. You are a suitable candidate for the hunt! I wonder why you are back home—safe and sound."

"She made me go back, mother," Akko said. "She said that I am the first to see her, rode with her on her steed, and danced with her and was able to survive the hunt to tell the tale. I was nearly even snatched into a faerie circle, if not for her."

Her mother was quiet after she heard all of that. Her heart heavy from all the worrisome tales she heard from her daughter. "Then I guess, my dear child, she made your childhood dream come true."

Akko did dream she would but not at this cost. Her heart stung once more. It was painful and repetitive as if she was being stung repeatedly by a bee. She thought of the little basket and wondered if there might be something under the leaves, hoping Diana was not as cruel.

As Akko removed the blanket over it, she became stunned at the sight. Her mother looked and placed her hands on her mouth to refrain from screaming in delight.

"The birch leaves were all turned to gold!" Akko gasped and ran straight outside to find that the handful of leaves that she had thrown away was still lying in the road and did not turn into gold. But the riches which Akko brought home were enough.

* * *

 _ **Akko grabbed**_ her cloak when it was midnight. This was the last chance she has before Diana and the Wild Hunt would leave the village's forest forever. She took a lantern with her to guide her through the darkness. Wandering near the wooded copse by the river, where they would always dance, hoping to hear the thunder of the Wild Hunt's approach.

She had not known that a familiar road at night would as well become new. Although the full moon was high up in the sky, the moonlight had not reached the forest grounds as if some sinister dark magic curtained the trees, refusing to let light travel in. Night insects and night animals echoed around bringing forth a sensation she has not felt before. The ground was uneven, with roots protruding from the forest floor.

She was standing among tall trunks of pine trees when strange howls came from the east. Akko strained her ears to identify the sound but could not. When she turned to look around herself at the waiting dark, she was sure that she saw multiple yellow eyes blinking back at her.

She gasped in fright and hastened forward, clinging to the lantern, afraid she would drop it and be left in the pitch-black night. All Akko could surmise was that it was not a lone creature that now announced its presence in the dark to her.

She heard her own breath, quick and frantic, like a hunted wild rabbit. And then the whispering began. It came on the wind, sweeping towards her bursts, and then was halted before she could discern any words.

She held out the lantern like a weapon. "Who is there?"

There was suddenly the sound of laughter as the wind blew that sounded distant like bells chiming. She turned towards the sound and stumbled forward, tripping over the undergrowth root. As the laughter came more frequently, she recalled that she had heard this language spoken before.

Then she saw the lights in the distance. They did not waver; they were beacons in the night. She started to walk toward them, but they always seemed just out of reach. She began to feel a deep longing in the pit of her stomach. She feared she would wander in the dark woods forever until she would die.

That was when the footfalls of horses came toward her, the ground rumbling with the force of their passage. She stood transfixed, and the wind came. When a fog rose, her lantern went out, leaving her momentarily blind. But soon afterward the fog began to glow with an unearthly light.

When she saw the first horse, Akko's heart leaped up into her throat. The horses were gleaming gold, silver, earth and night and their eyes burning like hot burning coal and metal like the ones she saw at a blacksmith's forge. Witnessing with her own eyes the Wild Hunt she had heard about. This moment would be fixed in her memory forever. The huntresses were both beautiful and frightening. Ethereal women with various ethnicities and species, their cheekbones so sharply sculpted that they seemed made from marbles.

The faerie revels and faerie rings all are less compared to the Wild Hunt for this was nothing she had ever seen before. The huntresses surrounded her and looked at her with steely two-colored eyes, a mixture array of red, violet, gray, blue, amber, brown, black, green, and others Akko could not discern.

The huntresses each pointed their arrows from their bows, completely rooting her to the spot. She could not move for fear they will kill her instantly without seeing her beloved, she raised her hands, claiming she's unarmed and is merely a harmless humble human.

A redhead with her hair tied and wild eyes asked with growing anger. " _How come a human girl stumbled upon us?"_

 _"Strange girl, you just met your doom."_ Another huntress with slick black hair hissed. _"What do we do with her?"_

" _We feed her to the wolves!"_ a wild redhead with green eyes yelled with such ferocity. _"Or we_ _take her among us!"_

They seemed to speak to each other, but Akko could not see their mouths moving, and she could only hear the strange, uneven whispering she had heard before during that one time she nearly fell prey to faerie's glamour.

" _Make way. She is mine."_

The huntresses all quivered before that voice and streamed away from Akko in an elegant spiral, leaving her alone with one woman who looked down at her from her familiar tall white horse.

In all of her glory, Diana was more beautiful than any woman Akko had ever seen. She wore a skull mask on top of her head with huge antlers. When she spoke, she spoke Akko's language as she did before. "What are you doing here?"

Akko stood there paralyzed, unable to speak. She had not known that Diana was an honorable leader, yet she knew that the Huntress has a compassionate heart underneath that ruthless exterior.

"You are a fool. I told you to never come looking for me." Diana said. "I spared you many times. Do not tempt me to take you. You must go back."

"I came to find you." It felt as though she hadn't spoken in years. Akko reached out to hold Diana's hands.

Akko heard some of Diana's huntresses gasp at the sight. The leader of the Wild Hunt looked deeply angry and deeply heartbroken. Her huntresses cowered beneath their Lady's glare

"You must live your life as human and when you die, I shall take you to my ranks. Until then, my love, we shall meet again." Diana said and then she touched Akko's cheek, making her fall into an enchanted sleep.

Akko was found three days later when one of her neighbors discovered a seemingly normal white horse tethered near a wooded copse down by the river. Within a bed of dried leaves, Akko was there fast asleep. Although she was confused when she awoke, after she had been brought home to her wailing mother, and fed a good supper, she remembered what had happened.

In those three days that she was asleep, her mother bought a farm with fields and cattle with the gold, leaving one piece of gold for Akko to turn into a gold ring, to have something of Diana.

But no matter what Akko did, no matter how her mother tried to make her daughter forget about her lost love, no matter how cheerful and happy she was, nothing ever again gave her quite so much pleasure as the dance with the wild huntress. She often went to the birch wood in the hope of seeing the maiden again. But she never did.

She made her mother worry about her again for she refused to leave her bed. Her mother had called priests, doctors, witches to help her little girl and pay all of them with good money but they all said that Akko was neither glamoured nor enchanted by a faerie. Akko was just heartbroken and the remedy for a broken heart was either a rekindle of love or time.

"What is wrong with you, my dear?" Akko's mother asked her, she rubbed her womb, expecting a child for she had remarried.

With a deep sigh, Akko answered, "A faerie from the Wild Hunt has taken my heart away from me."

Her pregnant mother sat beside her bed. "It has been two years. You will be an older sister soon."

Akko stared at her mother's bulging womb. Her sibling's father was their neighbor who found her. She had not known that when the man found her sleeping and return her to her mother, they would fall in love. Akko could not stop herself from feeling bitter.

"And yet no one and nothing can make me forget about her."

As is the way with their past encounters, Akko could not forget what she had seen and experienced, and every noon and night she yearned for Diana, her heart aching anew.

Then all of a sudden, she could smell the scent of something indefinable perhaps it was the magic. Her head fell back against the pillow, and soon her eyes drifted shut. She dreamed of dancing with the huntress all over again.

That night Akko died. Her mother grieved, her new husband holding her tight. When days have passed and her firstborn has been given a proper burial, the mother gave birth that night to a healthy young baby girl.

As she did to her firstborn, she told her second child stories about the faeries with an additional tale to be told so that her firstborn's story would live on to more generations to come. About a wild huntress who fell in love with a mortal girl and danced with her every noon and made her rich presents until she left her to live a normal human life. When the mortal girl died of a broken heart, the Huntress came for her and took her soul. For the Wild Hunt are composed of faeries and souls of lost humans.

True to Diana's promise, Akko joined the Wild Hunt and was reunited with her lover once more.

* * *

 **A/N**

 **This is the longest one I wrote omg. Really love this one, hope you guys enjoy reading this too. I based this fairytale from the Wooden Maiden by Parker Fillmore, the myths about the Wild Hunt and of course about the goddess Artemis/Diana.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

 **A/N: This chapter is dedicated to the lovely crazyringo. I wrote this as a b-day gift last month, and she has given me permission to share this to the rest of the fandom. I promise there's no angst (for the main couple at least). Just fluff and a little side dish of a death-defying adventure.**

 **Summary: Now a wandering soul who joined the Wild Hunt, Akko Kagari's the only one who could save the dying Seelie Queen. Dangerous quests were now a normal part of her new life.**

The campfire cast an eerie, flickering light on the surrounding woods. Normally the forest would have been dark and silent at this late hour since humans with common sense would typically avoid the woods at night for every strange and dubious phenomenon happen. But now, it rang with the sounds of women's voices.

A new huntress sat apart from the general revelry. Despite being in their company for more than a day and a half, she still wandered by her lonesome without her love.

" _Not joining in the fun, Akko?"_ A huntress with wild short red hair grinned in her direction.

She spoke in the ancient language of the Faeries and Akko, who had a great aptitude for languages had easily learned the basics.

The young huntress tossed the food satchel to the ground at the girl's feet. Then, coolly, she sat down cross-legged on her bedroll. With her green eyes fixed on the new girl, she uncorked her wineskin. _"You should, you know. A little drink would do you good."_

" _No thanks, Amanda,"_ she said, refusing. She winced at hearing her thick accent at speaking the fae language. _"I do not drink."_

" _You are not even human anymore, yet you are being modest."_ Amanda chuckled as she drunk huge gulps.

Akko didn't want to show weakness for being a part of the Wild Hunt meant being endowed with beauty and prowess. Every path they took, flowers would either grow or wilt, the rocks would quiver in fear or excitement. Trails of golden and silver dust would be left in their wake.

But right now, she was the new member. She was lost without Diana.

" _You will get used to the Hunt, I am sure of it. You are one of us now,"_ Amanda reminded.

There was silence for a while. She knew it was part of Diana's duty to hunt alone for mischievous humans alone in the woods, but she did not know that the others would be cooped up in the corner unless Diana would give out orders.

The Wild Huntress Diana needed complete loyalty and obedience with all her huntresses, whether they were faeries and souls of lost humans.

Akko reached and tapped Amanda's shoulders. _"How long have you known the Wild Huntress Diana?"_

" _She and I go way back. She's the one who gave me my first celestial sword."_ She broke off for a moment to inspect her sword and showed it to Akko.

The blade was gleaming like glass. Amanda sheathed it and sat back and resumed. _"You know, I was about your age during our heyday together,"_ she said, grinning at the recollection. _"We were both insane. The messes we got into together! Heh."_

Curious eyes flicked up to Amanda's _. "Like what?"_

Amanda raised a brow, and then roughly ruffled Akko's hair. _"You want to hear war stories, is that it? Do I look like a bard to you?"_

The new huntress winced and shrank away visibly.

Amanda chuckled. All Akko knew about her was that she was the only huntress who was the same as Diana—a faerie that belonged to neither the Seelie nor Unseelie court.

" _I am not much of a storyteller, but I will try."_ Now she did, taking periodic sips of wine. _"Years ago, before your old hometown was nothing but woods, an invitation was sent to the Wild Hunt to attend the Seelie Queen at her palace at midsummer. She needed hunters for a job, you see."_

" _A magical monster to hunt?"_

Amanda sneered _. "You could say that, but no. She wanted us to kill her own blood and flesh."_

" _Her child? But why?"_

" _I believe there was no record in human history books about it, but the leylines of the world had been tangled, forced into some kind of knot that the Seelie Queen's wayward child has created. The Princess could never be Queen for she was a bastard."_

" _Who was her father?"_

" _The Unseelie King,"_ she said. _"And the word was, he allowed the Princess to come and go in his own realm, but he does not treat her like royalty, merely as a pest reminding him of his foolish mistakes. Her 50 older brothers are every bit nasty to boot."_

" _But they hate each other,"_ Akko said, recalling the storied her mother used to tell her. While the Seelie Faeries are nothing but mischievous creatures in endless spring and summer who are curious about humans and their emotions, the Unseelie Faeries are ominous in fall and winter and would rather kill humans than bargain with them. " _Which is why the two realms are ruled differently and both treat each other as enemies."_

" _I had not been born to know the whole detail on that, and the elders would not dare tell the story. Sorry new girl."_

" _It's alright, please continue."_

" _So the Princess' actions have altered the seasons, but the chaos was everywhere. Life dying from the endless winter, and the icebergs melting because of a rise in temperature. The Seelie Queen has called us because she must be stopped before she does more harm to both the Faerie world and the human world. The Princess has been playing with terrible powers, and soon she will destroy more. The only way the energies can be sent back to balance was to kill her. And only those who are not allergic to iron can kill her, for it is the weapon to be used."_

" _D-did you kill her?"_

A tiny, grim smile twisted her lips. _"We occasionally accept jobs from both realms. When it comes with a good reason and a good price."_

" _Fascinating tale, coming from you. You two should eat rather than fill yourselves with wine and air."_ Another redhead handed both Akko and Amanda bowls of gruel.

Then, with a cool grin, Amanda extended her hand for the bowl. The other girl laid it on her palm.

Akko's eyes widened slightly, she was dead. A spirit. She does not know anything about the other Wild Hunt members if they were living or dead as she, but she didn't comment. It would be good to eat again. Without a word, she took the bowl in her hands and put it to her lips.

Amanda and the other girl watched closely as the new huntress swallowed her mouthful. Akko had to admit that the gruel was tasty. " _What's your name?"_ she asked.

Wide brown eyes flicked briefly up to meet hers. _"I am Hannah."_

" _Can I have another helping?"_ Amanda asked.

" _Yes, you can."_

Then, with a sigh of satisfaction, she tossed the empty bowl in Hannah's direction. Hannah caught it with flawlessly and went back to the campfire to pour it some more.

With their stomachs full, everyone readied themselves for sleep. The others dozed off easily, while others had a hard time. Some inside tents, some on bedrolls, and it surprised Akko that there were some who preferred the natural grass and would cuddle with their pet wolves or horses.

Who was Akko to judge them? She would cuddle to find a sense of security and warmth if she could. But she was basically strangers to everyone else for now.

" _Sleep tight,"_ Amanda said pleasantly. Then she returned to her own bedroll.

Although Akko did love a clean, soft bed every now and then, her first love was still lying down beneath the stars.

She stretched out on her bedroll and draped her blanket over herself with a deep sigh of contentment. Her muscles ached pleasantly from the day's fighting and riding. With great satisfaction, Akko closed her eyes.

* * *

 _ **Diana's eyes**_ warily scanned the road ahead as she traveled. Occasionally she moved upward to scrutinize the trees that overhung the road. Diana had always possessed unusual physical strength, speed, and agility, and she used them to great effect.

Firelight flickered off the branches of the trees, lending warmth and mystery to the atmosphere. All was quiet, save for the occasional breeze that rustled the leaves, and the call of a lonely owl somewhere in the distance.

Diana entered the area full of glamour. She had just gone back from her scouting to find most of her recruits calling it a night. With just one watching over the whole camp and a lookout for any danger.

Barbara jumped from the tree branch she hid and bowed at her _. "Welcome back, milady."_

Diana's features hardened at the reminder that she found no lonesome mortals frolicking in the woods, and the fact that she was ambushed by the rebellious faeries by The Clearing. Sucy of the Unseelie lands still had issues with her when she pulled Akko out of the glamour to join the Faerie ring.

They gave a good fight, but Diana was much more capable than them. She easily fended them off, but not without being unscathed. Resolutely ignoring the throbbing pain of her wound, the thought of her waiting lover gave her quite a delight.

" _How is the new recruit?"_

" _Akko had done a good job of helping set up the camp. She had obviously paid attention the night before."_

" _Good,"_ she said, getting of her warhorse and handing the reins to Barbara, prompting the black-haired to excuse herself.

It was not much of a challenge to find Akko in the sea of sleeping huntresses. Diana looked down at the girl with amusement

Gently, she drew the girl's bangs back from her face and stroked her knuckles down the skin of her cheek. It felt good to touch her; it took Diana's mind off the dull ache of her shoulder. _"Sleep well, little mouse,"_ she murmured.

Akko's lips twitched upward slightly. Small fingers curled into a soft fist and then relaxed again.

Diana huddled beside the flames, trying to keep warm. She closed her eyes and rested her head against her knees, struggling to control her shivering, and the pain that throbbed in her left shoulder. It was growing again; it taxed her already depleted reserves. Diana shuddered and gave a soft groan.

There was movement. Then slender arms slipped around the Huntress' body. Diana sat up abruptly and found Akko crawling into her lap a moment later. She scowled down into the huge red eyes. "You are supposed to be sleeping," she said in Akko's old human language.

A small hand stroked her cheek. "You are hurting," Akko said softly.

The Huntress' scowl deepened. "It does not matter. I am immortal and I heal." Diana turned her gaze to the fire, letting her fingers rest atop Akko's soft brown hair.

"Of course it matters." Akko leaned up to kiss Diana's frowning mouth. "Isn't there anything I can do, Diana? Can't I find you some herbs or something? I hate to see you suffering like this."

Diana sighed and gave in, letting her new member draw her head down to rest against her shoulder. It felt good to relax a bit, even if it didn't help the ache of her wound. "It is too dark to go plant hunting, especially since you have not grown accustomed to the forest as we do," she muttered. "It would be rude to wake the others just for one tiny wound I can endure until morning. To ease yourself from worrying about me, you can try to find some willow bark tomorrow, once the sun is up. Until then I just have to grit my teeth and bear it. I have had worse."

Very gently, Akko kissed the wounded shoulder. "I want to sit with you," she pleaded softly. "I do not want to sleep when you are hurting." She thrust out her lower lip in an exaggerated pout.

"There is no point in that," Diana said as stoic as she can. Not wanting to reveal that she found Akko's pouting as severely cute. "If you are not going to sleep, then you should may at least be sluggish throughout the rest of the day."

"I am resting."

"You must get rest, Akko. The Seelie Queen has asked for our presence at midday. You need to be at top shape."

Akko's brows shot to her hairline. "Is she going to ask us to kill another evil child?"

Her eyelids fluttered, someone had probably told Akko of their other unusual duties. "We do not know for certain. So I repeat, you should sleep."

Akko's lower lip thrust outward, just a bit. "I can rest here just as easily as I can over there."

Diana softened, despite her masked suffering and anxiety. She reached out, grasped the girl by the scruff of her neck, and pulled her in to roughly kiss her forehead. "All right, my dear," she said quietly. "You can bring your bedroll over here if you like. But you have to go to sleep, then. Understand?"

Akko smiled, nodded, and went to fetch her bedding.

Although Diana would never admit it, she had missed the little scamp. It had been two years and they had not yet properly reconciled. Diana had duties, she was the leader of the Wild Hunt. Other mortals even refer to her as a goddess of her own right, and it was comforting when Akko laid down beside her.

She gazed down quietly, watching as Akko snuggled under her blanket and closed her eyes. One of Diana's hands drifted down to absently stroke Akko's hair. Akko smiled sleepily but didn't look up.

Diana shifted her weight and grimaced against the wave of pain that followed. Before she could stop herself, she sucked in a sharp breath.

Instantly, Akko's eyes opened and peered worriedly up at her. Diana shot her a warning look. The new huntress bit her lip, thought for a moment, and then wriggled up until her head was resting in Diana's lap. With a sigh of satisfaction, Akko closed her eyes again. Her small hand lay against Diana's thigh.

Diana relented with a sigh as she studied the peaceful little face. She had to admit that the contact felt good. Diana examined the slender fingers that rested on her leg and began to trace them softly with the tip of her own. She felt drawn to touch, to caress, and to hold. Her brow wrinkled. None of the old humans she used to hunt have ever had this effect on her. None of her past loves have ever had this effect on her.

It felt both exhilarating and terrifying as if she were plunging headfirst off a cliff into the unknown. Strange. Very like some of the love bard she had heard once from one of Barbara's own, now that she thought about it.

Diana laughed at herself.

She gently began to thread her fingers through Akko's hair again and was rewarded with another soft sigh.

* * *

 _ **The journey**_ to the Seelie lands only took several hours with the help of their fae bred horses. The farther they rode into the woods, the warmer it became. They stripped off their furs and packed them away. Despite the warmth, a pall hung over them, and the sun remained hidden behind clouds.

Akko remembered how the in the stories, Seelie lands glow like it was ablaze for it was beautiful and mystical, so it was strange. The whole world was muted. She wondered if there was something wrong with herself as if she was seeing everything through a film of ashes.

As they rode through the streets of the Seelie's city, it became clear that the same miasma was affecting everyone. A few of the fae came out to watch them pass, and the ones who did look haunted. At the palace, a thin layer of dust drifted over its architecture. Their horses kicked it up when they rode into the courtyard, and it floated into Akko's nose and throat and made her cough.

The Seelie Queen's right-hand man took them directly through the quiet, dim halls to the throne room. Akko was shocked to see the Seelie Queen slumped over in her throne, her face as gray as the dust that drifted in ashy piles around their feet. Her hair was teal and brittle. She looked defeated; she looked ancient but still beautiful.

" _What is wrong, your majesty?"_ Diana asked, stepping forward. She wore her deer antler circlet and Akko wondered how she might have managed to wear it without getting tired. Diana put one foot on the first step at the bottom of the dais but hesitated to go farther.

The Queen stirred, revealing her green eyes. _"I am not well."_ She pushed herself upright and looked at the huntresses. Her tiara was made of leaves and flowers, as well as two grill-horns. _"Come here."_

Dread filling her, Akko watched as Diana climbed the steps of the dais. The Queen extended her hand, and when Diana took it, the Seelie Queen pulled her closer so that she had to kneel before the throne.

" _This is what has become of me,"_ she whispered, _"for ordering the murder of my own child. I thought that removing her from this world would set things right, but I find that I was wrong. Her death has killed part of me, as well."_

A droplet of liquid splashed down on her hands, and Akko realized that the Seelie Queen was crying. Every drop was ice: hard little shards like crystals.

" _There is only one cure for me."_ The Seelie Queen ached with regret, energy leaking out of her. _"The water of life. I must drink it."_

Akko had been standing silent nearby, watching Diana kneeling before the Seelie Queen as if entranced, and a sense of uneasiness filled her. _"What will happen if you don't drink this water of life?"_

Diana's face constricted as if she had just witnessed Akko get herself into possible trouble. She had, after all, spoken out of turn. _"My deepest apologies, Your Majesty. This is my newest huntress."_

The Seelie Queen regarded them for a moment before she closed her eyes. _"Understandably innocent. To answer your question, my dear girl, I will die," she said, her voice light as a dry wind. "And my land will die with me."_

" _Your land,"_ Akko said. _"What do you mean?"_

" _She means that Seelie lands will crumble,"_ Hannah said. _"She means that the Seele fae will die. And she means that the Seelie lands itself will perish. The trees will fall; the rivers will dry up; the earth will become nothing but ash. And if the Seelie lands will fall, there will be no more spring, no more summer. No one to stop the Unseelie lands to decimate the entire humanity and make them slaves."_

" _Does Her Majesty have no heir?"_ Akko whispered.

" _The Princess Chariot is still unfit for duty,"_ Amanda whispered back.

" _Which is why,"_ Diana interceded. " _I will leave as soon as possible and get to the unicorn, Your Majesty."_

" _No, no. Not you."_ The Seelie Queen said, pointing at Akko _. "Come here, child."_

Akko took three quick steps towards Diana and stood next to her.

The Seelie Queen's fingers pressed against her cheeks. _"Listen to me. You can save me. You can save all of us."_

" _How?"_

" _You, Atsuko Kagari, are the only one who can save me."_

" _You know who I am?"_

" _I have ears everywhere my dear child. The woods, the water, the animals, all of nature, they obey to me. You frequent the forest when you were still human, dear child."_

Akko was hot and cold at the same time. _"What do I have to do? How do I find the spring where this water comes from?"_

" _It is not a spring."_

Akko stiffened.

" _The water of life is the blood of the unicorn."_

" _The unicorn?"_

" _Why only me?"_

" _You must seek out the unicorn and submit to its judgment. If it finds you innocent, then it will sacrifice itself to you and give you its lifeblood. You will bring it back to me."_

Akko remembered the stories, of course. Everyone told them. But this was akin to asking her to hunt down a dragon, and though she had seen enough wonders for an entire lifetime in the short period she had been in in the Wild Hunt, this was too much to take in.

Besides, in those tales, no one ever survived the judgment of a unicorn.

" _What if it finds that I'm not innocent?"_ she asked.

The Seelie Queen said somberly, _"If it judges you guilty, then it will kill you. But seeing as you are already dead would mean the creature will devour your soul."_

A thick silence blanketed the throne room. Akko felt feverish. Everything seemed unreal. She wiped her hand across her brow, leaving a streak of dust over her skin.

Diana's voice cut through everything _. "With all due respect, Your Majesty, but this is mad,"_ she objected. _"Even for the likes of the Fae. It was I that drew the iron blade. I have the burden."_

" _Your friends do you much honor,"_ the Seelie Queen said to Akko. _"But in the end, it is your choice alone."_

Akko looked at the Queen, frail and aged. She looked at Diana and the rest of the hunt, whom she might never see again if she did as the Seelie Queen asked. But the fate of the two worlds pulled her in the only direction she could go. She turned to the throne and said, _"I will do it."_

The Seelie Queen bowed deeply to her in thanks. _"Leave as soon as possible. I believe I will not live on the fortnight."_

* * *

 _ **The lovers**_ rode toward the stately trees as quickly as she could, but it was noon before she felt the shade of the first tree on her back. She continued on, and the trees began to grow more thickly. Sunlight dappled the ground; afternoon slid into dusk, and shadows spread purple and blue across the golden forest. The wind grew cooler. There was no end to this forest.

Akko followed Diana as they reined in their horses. They swung out of the saddle and led the horses off the road. With deft fingers, Diana undid the harness and tethered her horse to a nearby tree. Akko did not tie hers, but she hummed under her breath as she began to rub her horse down.

"This is where we part." Diana offered her to take a silver horn cup with a leather strap affixed to it. "After the judgment, you must fill this cup with blood, and bring it back. Follow the river upstream and you will find the unicorn's dean. You must meet him alone. I will be waiting for you here."

Akko took the horn from her, feeling oddly calm and slung it around her shoulder, resting it on her hip next to Diana's iron dagger that she lent. "Diana. May I ask you a question?"

"You just did," the Huntress mumbled. "Though I suppose you have a thousand."

"You have had a lot of things... happen to you," Akko said softly. "I mean, from what Amanda had told me. And some of those things have been really... well, kind of ugly. Right?"

Diana's eyebrows drew together. "I suppose."

"And some ugly things you could not really do anything about," Akko went on, without pausing in her work. "But now you are really strong and brave, so... how did you get through it, Diana? How did you keep all those things from destroying you? You might be immortal and all that, but you did not let it wither you." Her soft voice broke abruptly. "That is my question."

"If something does not go the way I intended it to and I cannot do anything about it," Diana said bluntly, "I push myself until I am capable enough, and then I strike it with my arrows. There are worse things," she whispered.

That was all.

Akko sighed. "I guess that would work if I had an experience like you," she murmured. "But I am never going to have that anymore, Diana. I am now to embark into a perilous journey on my own, and I could not have practice and experience to prepare myself."

The Huntress quirked a sardonic brow and eyed her. "No, you are right. You will not."

There was silence. Akko resumed at fixing her horses' saddle in quiet misery.

Diana sighed and cleared her throat. "Sometimes you are pushed through challenges you are not prepared for. People expect a lot form you. You just have to make a decision. Do you want to be alive? Do you want to be happy? If you do, you just have to put your head down and plow through. There just is not any other bloody way sometimes."

"You sound like Amanda for a bit."

"And your speech pattern has improved."

Akko let out a giggle. "That means you guys have influenced me."

"I cannot argue with that. And to my defense, Amanda's philosophy has been helpful in times of peril," Diana said, then paused. "Being the one to save the world that much of an imposition on you?"

Akko seemed to sense the danger in the question. She flicked her red eyes up to meet her lover's, briefly, and then looked away.

Diana could not quite restrain a chuckle at this. The dangerous glint in her blue eyes faded away. "Listen to the world, my love," she said. "There are worse things than being in sent to the judgment of the unicorn?"

"Yes, Diana. There are." Akko's voice was quiet, but it didn't waver. "I could be a trapped as a human slave in a faerie revelry, for example. I could be living miserably without you."

"I know you are scared. I am scared for you too. I have waited for years for us to be together. I would sourly hate it when you will be taken away again."

Akko gulped. Another question emerged from the back of her mind. "Can you at least tell me about the poor princess? I want to know the root cause of me heading off to face judgment."

"Her hair was the color of lilac, her eyes the color of the sea filled with life," Diana started. It was strange, but Diana lost herself in the telling of her the late princess' story. The memories rose up before her mind's eye as she spoke, as real as the forest in which they stood together. "Princess Croix of the Fae was the first born child of the Seelie Queen and one of the many bastards of the Unseelie King. Growing up, she was envious of her younger sister, Chariot, who was born rightfully for the throne. In her pent-up plethora of emotions, she harnessed human emotions, converted it to energy and used it to control the leylines. The weather was only the surface of the dilemma. She had created a monster who does her bidding. You know how it went in the end for her."

Akko nodded. If Amanda's tale rang true, Diana killed the Princess during her early years. A restraint sob escaped her throat.

"Akko, are you crying?"

"It was so sad," Akko said with wet red eyes and a tear streaked face. She rubbed at her cheeks with slim hands, uttering another little sob. Then she slipped her arms around Diana's body and hugged her tightly. "I am so sorry," she whispered. "I am sorry you had to do the dirty work."

"No, Akko. It must be I who should ask for your forgiveness. You are fixing every piled up mistake the Fae had done. And..." she ceased her words.

The two lovers did not mention the possibility that the judgment might render Akko incapable of returning. None of them want to ponder about it.

Akko thought she ought to be afraid— terrified, even, for she might be riding to her ultimate and final death. But instead, she only felt ready. She had come so far, and in a way, she felt as though she had been preparing for this her whole life. She buckled the iron dagger onto her belt and mounted her horse.

"I will be back, Diana."

"Promise me then," she whispered.

"I promise."

Diana nodded, though her eyes searched through the new Huntress. Akko felt bare all of a sudden. "Akko, do you miss your human life sometimes?"

"Hmm? Sometimes, but I would rather be here with you. So you are right. I have to grin and bear this mission. This is normal for the Wild Hunt's everyday life."

"Akko, once you have come back. Do you want to visit your poor mother and your sister after all this?"

"I would love that very much."

"Then it is settled then," Diana said, her voice was weary.

Akko looked up; Diana's eyes were full of deep sadness and guilt that sent a pang through her own heart. Akko kissed the warrior's cheek.

"Come back to me."

Akko gave her a nod and mounted her horse.

* * *

 _ **Her horse**_ was unusually skittish. She felt his muscles trembling as she unsaddled him, and he pranced as if he wanted to leave.

"What is it?" she asked, her voice sounding strange in this wilderness.

Akko tried to calm him down, but he continued to be nervous, and at last, she had to tie him to a tree, afraid that he would bolt.

She tried to rest a little and glanced up at the sky. It was the golden hour. Akko had reached the upstream but the horse's anxiety and the keening of the trees made her unable to locate the unicorn. She decided to sit against the trunk of a tree and dozed off a little when suddenly the horse whinny loudly. She scrambled to her feet and saw the tail end of her horse disappearing through the trees.

"Stop!" she yelled, but the horse did not halt. She looked at the tree where she had tied it, and the rope was still knotted around the trunk. The end that had been tied to her horse's halter flapped loosely in a slight breeze.

Ice slid down her spine, and her heart pounded. Akko trembled in silence. She bent over, hands on her knees, trying to calm herself. She was suddenly aware of how alone she was in this peculiar place, and she had the uncanny sensation that the trees were watching her.

It was chilly noon, she could feel occasional breaths of cool air caressing her face as the breeze filtered in through the trees. Despite all that, she felt perspiration rise on her skin. The direction of the wind abruptly shifted, and the melody that had been running through the leaves changed.

Something—or someone—was nearby.

She could not sense people's energies the way that a Wild Huntress like her could, only the soft footfalls upon grasses was all she had heard.

Akko straightened, glancing around, but she saw only trees. She tried to swallow her fear; tried to ignore the prickles of panic that raced along her skin.

"You are here for a reason." She told herself. "I am here for an honorable reason."

She clenched her hands into fists and turned into the wind, letting it stream over her head, loosening her hair. The sun was up high, shedding light over the golden forest, and in the shadows, she thought she saw something moving in the distance.

Was it the unicorn or was it another imposing figure? She chewed her lip as she mulled it over.

Akko firmly planted her feet on the ground, slightly crouching. Whatever it was, it was best to prepare for any kind of attack. No one to impede her progress.

"I am here for your judgment," she whispered. The shadows moved again, but they did not come closer. She raised her voice, bracing herself. _"I am here for your judgment!"_

She felt suspended in the wind. The music of the trees rang in her ears. She wondered how long she would have to stand there, waiting. The leaves shook like tambourines.

The unicorn seemed to step out of nowhere. It was a male. His head was small and perfectly formed, shaped like that of a deer. The horn, a speckled, ivory spiral, protruded from between eyes that were undeniably intelligent.

Akko kneeled down before him, her whole body tense. _"I am here for your judgment,"_ she said once more.

She suddenly felt the unicorn's consciousness fill her mind. There was a sensation of someone tearing her open. All of her, heart and soul, was spread out before this creature, and he examined every last detail of her life. Akko was not foreign to the experience. Diana sometimes would stare at her and she could feel her love, able to read her like an open scroll. But this was different. If Diana had nimble fingers, caressing the pages of her life, the unicorn would force it open and fold the corners, scarring her pages.

He saw her memories of childhood—roughhousing with her playmates, running around town, doing her mundane chores, begging her mother for some dried plums and asking for faerie stories as night fell. There was her first trip to the forest where she first met Diana; the time she had upset her mother because she had not finished her chores on time; the cool breeze of the forest on a spring day. The moment where she truly realized that Diana was not human.

Akko's eyes flew open. The unicorn lowered his head. She looked into his black eyes, and though he did not speak in words, she understood him.

Harmony.

That was the heart of nature.

Every living being—plant, animal, human, fae—had its place in the cycle of life and death. In this cycle, countless creatures worked in tandem as well as against one another. All of these beings formed a complicated whole that shifted and changed in order to maintain that harmony.

Tears slid down her face. The experience of being human—of laughing, of loving, and of dying—would be imprinted on her always. She had been given an extraordinary gift when she was retrieved by the Wild Hunt for a second life. She understood that now, and she knew she had a responsibility to live up to her short life—if the unicorn allowed her to.

He lowered his horn until the point came to rest lightly against her chest. The touch of it sent a shock through her. All he had to do was push forward, and she would be dead. Stabbed through the heart, left to bleed could be her fate, but the unicorn remained still. He was not finished with her.

The Seelie Queen must live, so the balance will remain. Akko knew that the Seelie Queen would never be the same again. Her time to die would come soon. But she needed to live—for now.

The unicorn lifted his head and gave Akko permission to draw his blood with the knife Diana used, the same one that had killed Princess Croix.

There was an interminable pause. Akko squeezed her eyes shut and waited. She was aware of the blade poised on her hip. It would take so little for Akko to thrust it through the unicorn's neck. She had to steady her own breaths with an effort. At last, with shaking hands, she slid the blade across his throat, there was a sickening burst of pain, and Akko caught the fresh gush of blood flow with the horn. Drop by drop, his life fell into her hands.

The end, when it came, was sudden and unexpected.

She had been walking for almost six hours. The sun had been just past its zenith when she started out; now it was setting, flooding the woods with weird shadows and tinting everything with red.

She could see the camp she left earlier from a distance. She did not even know how she tore her way through the wall of danger between her and her love. The next thing Akko knew, she was there. She caught a brief glimpse of Diana's frightened blue eyes, and her horse, who had found his way back on his own, looking none the worse for his experience in the unicorn's grove.

Diana looked as if she had aged, bravely brandishing her the tip of her arrows as she wait. She stopped suddenly, her head coming up in a motion Akko recognized as scenting presence. Akko became very still herself, watching the Wild Huntress leader nervously.

She could see Diana's eyes narrowing, "Akko?"

"Yes love, I am here," Akko said, lingering where she stood. "This is only the beginning, right? There are more impossible missions to fulfill?"

Diana took a sharp intake of breath but she kept still. "And yet, I have survived countless. You will continue to survive this, Akko. Soon you will have the same experiences as I do." She then cleared her throat, "Is it done?"

"Yes," she said. Her whole body drained and exhausted as she held up the horn.

Relief flooded into Diana's face, making her look almost human. "Then we must return."

Akko ran and flung towards her in a sudden burst of passion. Diana stretched her arms open to catch her. Together, their lips pressed against each other.


End file.
